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Prayer Journal: Day 351
Day 351
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. – Isaiah 26:3 NIV
It is natural for the mind to wander. When we focus our attention on the Lord and something distracts us, it is perfectly okay to notice that we were gone and return out thoughts back to Jesus. He always helps and protects us when we believe and ask Him for assistance.
No request is too small for Him. He cares about everything about us.
He never gets tired. He never runs out of energy.
The Lord always wants to hear from us. It pleases Him when we put Him at the center of our attention.
Focusing on the Lord may mean exercising boundaries.
We may feel uncomfortable telling people that we reserve a day for rest and worship, but that day of restoration is important. Amen.
Prayer Journal: Day 325
Day 325
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. – 1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV
Self love includes being patient and kind to ourselves. We sometimes focus so much on taking care of others that we forget to take care of ourselves. Self care is a form of self love.
Sometimes we have to honor that we are out of energy by the end of the day and need to take something off our schedule. The Lord understands that our energy is finite, which means that we need to say “no” to some things.
We take pride in our productivity, but there is a time to work and a time to rest. Even God rested on the seventh day after creating humanity. The Lord rested and declared His work good. We can rest and restore ourselves, too. Amen.
Prayer Journal: Day 68
Day 68
Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me. God will hear and afflict them, even He who abides from old. Selah. Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God. – Psalm 55:17-19
Praise the Lord because He is good. He has removed a non-ideal client from my life who repeatedly disrespected my boundaries. These people who don’t fear God do not belong in our lives. They are placed in our lives to teach us patience and longsuffering, but when God removes people who are harmful from our lives, it is cause to rejoice.
Some people are incapable of change. They do not honor the Lord, and when we recognize that they are a drain on our limited energy supply, God replaces them from our lives with people who are worthy of our time and attention. The Lord doesn’t allow bad people to harm us. We are precious to Him.
Boundaries are about saying “no” to people in our lives who do not honor our divine purpose. God knows who we should work with and who we should not. He knows where our talents can be used and appreciated. He wants good things and good people in our lives. Amen.
Prayer Journal: Day 60
The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. – Proverbs 15:3 (NIV)
The Lord notices when someone mistreats us. And He also sees when we burn with resentment over their trespasses.
Forgiveness isn’t easy, but Jesus did it, and so must we. Even if someone makes us angry because they overstepped our boundaries, we still have to forgive, if for no other reason than for our own peace.
Forgiveness begins with acknowledging our part in whatever happened. Not everyone understands our values and shares them. Not everyone is respectful of our time and limitations. Not everyone is good for our health.
God asks us to refrain from complaining and disputing. This is hard to do when someone wrongs us because it is natural to want that person to either apologize and make amends or be punished for what he or she did to us.
Luckily God sees everything and His judgment is fair. There is no disputing it. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord. The nice thing is that we always have a choice.
We can decide to be good or to give in to evil. And for those who choose to be evil, we don’t’ have to spend time with them! God will show us who in our lives needs to be replaced. Not everyone in our lives belongs there. It’s important to set boundaries with those who wrong us so that they don’t do it again, because they will.
It’s okay to part ways with someone who repeatedly disrespects us, because they are not friends. God wants good people in our lives, and when we let go of the bad, we make room for other good people to enter into our lives.
And some people are capable of turning to Christ and changing. It is not our responsibility to change them or make them into better people. That is God’s job. He can set things right.
It is challenging to pray for people who wrong us. But if Jesus could do it, so can we. Amen.
Prayer Journal: Day 59
Day 59
Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humidity, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another. If anyone has anything against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. – Colossians 3:12-13
I have a hard time forgiving people who deliberately overstep my boundaries. It makes me furious.
Boundaries protect our finite energy. Sometimes we trade temporary discomfort in order to protect our energy. We only have 24 hours in a day.
We only have so many breaths that God has given us, and when those breaths run out, we die.
As a COVID-19 Long Hauler, I had shortness of breath. It reminded me that my breath is a gift from God. I can’t take it for granted, because it won’t always be there. Some day I will die, but “we have this hope that burns within our hearts; hope in the coming of the Lord” (as the hymn goes). Some day we will meet our Savior in the clouds. It will be a glorious day, and the things of Earth will pass away.
This life is only a fraction of the existence that we can spend with God. He asks us to turn our eyes upon Jesus. It is a challenge sometimes when the things of this world distract us, but when we notice that distraction, we can gently but firmly refocus our attention on God. He knows the big picture. He doesn’t want us to be stressed. He wants us to feel joy, eternal. Amen.
Prayer Journal: Day 53
Day 53
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. – Psalm 34:18
It pains me when I try to please some of my clients by waiving my rush order policies and they repay me by taking out their frustrations on me via email.
The Lord’s counsel is what stands, and I trust that He will show me whom I should work with and also when I should stop working with someone.
Our energy is finite, so it is important to trust the Lord, and when He tells us to stop doing something for our own good, we need to stop doing it. The Lord is a loving father. He doesn’t want to see us hurting. He bore our burdens for us. We need to surrender our problems to Him and trust that He will find the right solutions for us. The Lord knows what is best for us and loves us. If we follow Him, “all these things will be added” unto us (Matthew 6:33), and He will take care of all our needs. Amen.
gina akao 